In a season that started with great anticipation after two high-profile college stars joined the team, the Chicago Sky ended its campaign by missing the playoffs.
The Sky finished a disappointing 13-27, but that’s a misleading marker. The Sky swooned following the break for the summer Olympics, in large part due to sickness and injuries. Before that, a playoff berth appeared in sight and each game was meaningful.
In other words, despite the short-term disappointment, Sky fans have reason to be optimistic about the future. As does the entire sport of professional women’s basketball.
The Sky broke a franchise record for attendance, and some of its games were far and away the hottest sports tickets of the summer. The Sky — and the Women’s National Basketball Association — can thank the Caitlin Clark phenomenon for much of that, but not all of it.
Before injury ended her season early, Sky forward Angel Reese set WNBA records for rebounds per game and most double-doubles by a rookie.
In other words, 27 years after the first WNBA season, women’s basketball broke through — crashed through, really — to the upper echelons of professional sports this year. It shows no signs of retreating. The year 2024, we’re confident, will be seen as a turning point for the league, in much the same way the 1979 NBA debuts of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are viewed that way for the NBA.
More stars, led by the University of Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers, will be entering the WNBA fray next year. The Sky will have their work cut out for them, with a need for better outside shooting to complement the inside presence of Reese and rookie center Kamilla Cardoso.
Clark and Reese are in ways similar to Bird and Magic in the 1980s. The battles between the Sky and Clark’s Indiana Fever should be appointment viewing — and attending — for years to come.
So take a bow, WNBA. And buckle up, Sky fans.
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